Pregnant Detroit Woman Files Lawsuit Against the City for Wrongful Arrest Linked to Facial Recognition Technology

Detroit Woman Sues City and Police Detective Over False Arrest Linked to Facial Recognition Technology

A Detroit woman, Porcha Woodruff, has filed a lawsuit against the city and a police detective after being falsely arrested due to a faulty facial recognition technology match. Woodruff, who was eight months pregnant at the time, was getting her children ready for school on February 16 when six police officers arrived at her doorstep with an arrest warrant for robbery and carjacking.

Woodruff initially thought the officers were joking, given her visibly pregnant state. However, she was taken into custody and later discovered that she had been implicated as a suspect through a photo lineup shown to the victim of the robbery and carjacking, following an unreliable facial recognition match, according to court documents.

The victim informed the police that he had met a woman on January 29 with whom he had sexual intercourse. They visited a BP gas station where the woman had interactions with several individuals. Later, at another location, the victim was robbed and carjacked at gunpoint by a man whom the woman had interacted with earlier at the gas station. The victim reported that his phone was returned to the gas station two days later.

Woodruff’s lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Michigan, names Detective LaShauntia Oliver as a defendant. Detective Oliver allegedly ran facial recognition technology on the video footage from the gas station, which identified Woodruff as the suspect. However, the lawsuit claims that there was no mention of Woodruff’s pregnancy in the detective’s report.

When another suspect was arrested while driving the victim’s car on February 2, Detective Oliver failed to show him a picture of Woodruff, despite having access to her current driver’s license. The victim was shown a lineup of potential suspects, and he identified Woodruff as the woman he was with during the robbery. However, Oliver used an eight-year-old picture of Woodruff from a previous arrest in 2015 instead of her current photo.

Woodruff and her fiancé repeatedly urged the officers to check the warrant to confirm if the suspect was pregnant, but they were ignored. Eventually, Woodruff was charged with robbery and carjacking and released on a $100,000 personal bond. However, following her release, she was taken to a medical center where she was diagnosed with a low heart rate due to dehydration and stress-related contractions.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office dropped the case against Woodruff on March 6, citing insufficient evidence. Detroit Chief James E. White expressed concern over the allegations in the lawsuit and stated that the matter is being taken seriously. However, further investigation is required before additional information can be provided.

Detective Oliver has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the case. This incident raises questions about the reliability and potential biases of facial recognition technology and the need for comprehensive training and guidelines for its use in law enforcement.

Original Story at www.nbcnews.com – 2023-08-06 21:28:12